March 2009

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A tiny little bit of learning

March 31, 2009 in Bipolar disorder | No comments

People with clinical depression worry about transmitting the genes to their children, and with good reason, because it is strongly heritable. But as this cheery article in The Times points out, genes and environment interact.

The serotonin transporter gene, 5HTT, also has two alleles, and is known to be involved in mood. Moffitt and Caspi found that people with one allele were 2.5 times more likely to develop clinical depression than those with the other – but, again, only under particular circumstances. The risk applies only to people who also experience stressful life events such as unemployment, divorce or bereavement. When their environments are happy, their genotypes made no difference.

The ghost of Samuel Johnson whispers:

Yet hope not life from pain or danger free,
Or think the doom of man reversed for thee

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Wordability’s new badge!

March 31, 2009 in blogging, writers | No comments

Well, the badge itself hasn’t actually arrived yet, but the tireless Jonathan Crossfield at CopyWrite has included us in his Top 50 Australian Blogs on Writing. Are we chuffed, we who talk of ‘fit audience tho’ few?’ Bloody right we are.

Garrison Keillor nailed it. Writers don’t want to mumble ‘Glad you enjoyed the book’. They want to say ‘Rise, my grateful people.’

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The Left in universities

March 30, 2009 in politics, universities | No comments

On a noticeboard in a staff room recently I spotted a cartoon which I won’t reproduce here, because the draughtsmanship is puerile and the narrative stands alone. It goes something like this: publically-funded researchers conduct publically-funded research in publically-funded institutions and submit their work to journals which the university library has to pay to access.

As I recall, research materials were free at Moscow University in the 1950s. We’ll get there yet. Read the rest of this entry »

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Copspeak

March 30, 2009 in Language | 1 comment

Local Area Commander Peter Lennon says police are still searching for the gunman, who was almost run over while making his getaway.

“A motor vehicle, which I can only describe at this stage as being white in colour, had to sound its horn to avoid colliding with the gentleman running across the road,” he said.

Who wants to play the proletariat?

March 28, 2009 in Islamists and all that | No comments

There’s a kerfuffle going on at RMIT over the question of Muslim prayer-space. The Muslim students want a space of their very own.

There are already eight Muslim prayer rooms across the university’s three campuses, Dr Maddy McMaster, Acting Pro Vice-Chancellor (Students) said.

So what’s the problem?

“The university’s policy is that prayer rooms in its spiritual centre are multi-faith, open to bookings by members of all faiths,” she said.

There’s the hitch: the Muslim students aren’t about to use a room contaminated by Christians and Jews and who knows? by Zoroastrians. So they pray in corridors, and other drafty places.

They order these things better in France.

What engaged my attention was a twist. Read the rest of this entry »

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Writing for life

March 26, 2009 in writers | No comments

Sometimes I wonder, as others have, whether we are reaching the end of the literary culture that begins at the renaissance. If we are, one reason is obvious: people write far less than they once did. This was brought home to me when I began reading around in the 18th century. At the moment I am knee-deep in James Boswell, so he is my case in point.

Those who know him only through the Life of Johnson may not appreciate that Boswell’s collected writings will run to maybe forty volumes when the mighty Yale edition is completed. True, Boswell was exceptional and would be exceptional in any period. I cite him because of the role writing played in his life. Read the rest of this entry »

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